Cannabinoids for Clinicians and their Therapeutic Potential

A cannabinoid is one of a great collection of complex chemical compounds that operates on cannabinoid receptors in cells that fluxuates neurotransmitter release in the brain. Cannabinoids for these receptors include the endocannabinoids, that are made naturally in the body by animals, the phytocannabinoids in cannabis and some other plants, and synthetic cannabinoids. The main cannabinoid is the phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive chemical in cannabis. Cannabidiol (CBD) is another main constituent of the plant and produces a non psychotic effect. This paper will look at how cannabinoids can be used in the clinic as therapeutics in the treatment of a range of human disorders, including anxiety.

The endocannabinoid system has become as a massive player in the mediation of energy balance and metabolism, by its direct central and peripheral impacts, as well as via its relationship with other appetite-regulating pathways. There is mounting reports that the endocannabinoid system is overactive in obesity and were it possible to safely dampen-down the increased endocannabinoid tone, lipid and carbohydrate amounts could be developed and weight loss induced. The series of randomised clinical trials displayed reproducible advantageous impacts on weight. However, to date, clinical advancements have been stalled due to the psychiatric adverse events. Although current reports have impacted the detriment of an appetite-independent, peripheral method, it is still unknown whether specifically blocking the peripheral system could possibly solve the issue of the central adverse events, which thus far has led to the breakdown of the cannabinoid antagonists as useful pharmaceuticals. In this report, data is accumulated on the metabolic impacts of the cannabinoid pathway and its antagonists.

Cannabinoids have a therapeutic potential

The hyperactive endocannabinoid system found in obesity has been supported with massive illustrations from both animal and human studies, with the argument for a genetic basis especially worthy of knowing. Breaking down the network and blocking the endocannabinoid pathway at any level could possibly destroy its extensive activity and provide a platform for weight loss. The peripheral methods of the network are interesting, and specifically blocking the peripheral receptors may hold the answer to stropping the main adverse events, which thus far have pointed at the demise of the cannabinoid antagonists in therapeutic prescriptions. However, it is actually not known whether the blissful impacts on weight, as well as lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, would be upheld in this case, as manipulating data of direct central control of peripheral metabolism are coming out.

Registered with the British Psychological Society, breaking the taboo on mental health issues is one of the driving forces in Jonathan's life. His background in biomedicine gives him additional understanding of the factors that work together to influence the human condition.